Taking Down Cancer: Fourth Treatment Cycle in the Bag

Does time fly when you’re undergoing chemo? I don’t know if that’s a phrase which will catch on but the last three weeks since my last treatment absolutely flew by.

Overall, it was another good round that didn’t hit me too hard and I was back sleeping in my own bed by Saturday night. The last two rounds have hit me worse on Friday than on Thursday – which is a bit unusual, but I’ve still been able to eat full meals each day.

The last three weeks were also full of adventure – a theme if you haven’t noticed. Haha. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; if I’m cooped up I’ll go insane.

Let’s get into things.

First Week:

• My grandparents (who recently moved out to Phoenix) kept me company at chemo for a couple hours. My grandpa, a double cancer survivor, probably didn’t have the best feeling going back into the lion’s den but he’s super supportive and I loved having both of them with me.
• The next week was spent getting ready for an Excursion to Northern Arizona with Alyson.

Second Week:

• I went to the gym every day and either lifted or ran. This included my first sub-nine-minute mile on the treadmill (and without stopping). I then walked for a bit and proceeded to see what I had left in my tank by doing a half mile at a 7:45 pace. My legs felt a little bit like jello the next day.
• We adventured up north! Click the link to read about the entire trip but I’ll give you the highlights:
  • Camped in a snowstorm.
  • Saw a beautiful sunrise at the Grand Canyon covered in snow.
  • Thought about crossing a river in our car. Passed on it.
  • Saw some Hoodoos.
  • Saw Horseshoe Bend for sunset.
  • Explored Slot Canyons.
  • Drove home in my first ever snow storm. Shouts to my Prius for making it down the mountain.

Third Week:

• This has nothing to do with me, but U of A basketball finally won a game. I was worried I was a bad luck charm to them.
• If you hadn’t heard, Phoenix got snow, so Alyson and I went up into the Superstitions for a much longer hike than we imagined. The fact we had to do half a mile of off-trail bushwhacking and then figuring out how to walk in the snow contributed to the longer outing. I’ll have a write up on that, but we did about 6.5 miles and 2,500 feet of elevation gain for my first real hike of the year.
• I also had a CT Scan. The doc is happy about the results. It’s down to 4cm x 6m after being at 8cm x 10.5cm back in November. I couldn’t have done 6.5 miles with that elevation gain if I was getting worse. Again, I’m listening to my body.

When you read this, I’ll be done with my fifth treatment with only one left in the middle of March. It’s wild to think I’ve known about my cancer diagnosis for almost four months now. While it doesn’t seem like yesterday, it sure doesn’t seem like it has been four months.

I know I’m getting better and have to keep powering through to the end.

Next Steps

Looking ahead, April should be a low-key month with little action taken. We’ll begin the process of radiation but that’s likely to not start until the end of April. I’ll loop you all in when I know more, as right now a lot of it is up in the air depending on what my final PT Scan shows.

Love you all!